1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to ascertaining an object's unique identifier and in particular to determining an object's unique identifier by matching attributes of the object to input criteria. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to determining an object's unique identifier utilizing weighted attribute matching and a threshold match value.
2. Description of the Related Art
When objects containing data are stored within a database in a data processing system, they are typically each assigned unique object identifiers which may be employed as a "key" to retrieve or manifest the desired object. The object identifier of a desired object may or may not be known, either within or outside the host data processing system, although attributes of the object may be known. Where the object contains information about an individual bank customer or health care organization patient or subscriber, for example, the object identifier for the object containing the individual's information may not be known although the individual's name, social security number, and other identifying information stored as a property on the object may be known.
It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a method and apparatus for determining a unique object identifier for an object where attributes of the object are known.